


Best Laid Plans

by Somniare



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: M/M, Undercover As Gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-24
Updated: 2013-09-24
Packaged: 2017-12-27 10:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/977860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somniare/pseuds/Somniare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Is there perhaps something you need to tell me?”</p><p>“Ma’am?” they chorused.</p><p>“About your... relationship.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Laid Plans

**Author's Note:**

> A quick one-shot. I hit a bit of writer's block with another story, so I let the muse run with a little idea which had been floating around.
> 
> BR by barcardivodka and Mauz - thank you, ladies for giving it the once over.
> 
> All errors are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own them, just playing, promise to put them back safely.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

“Lewis.  James.  Please, take a seat.”  Jean Innocent waited until governor and bagman had settled, noting the few scant inches between their chairs and arms.  She wondered if James realised he always leant slightly towards Lewis.  Jean wasn’t looking forward to this particular meeting, but it had to be done.  She forced a smile she wasn’t completely feeling and hoped it reached her eyes.  
  
“I’d like to congratulate you on a job skilfully and efficiently executed, and especially for completing the reports for CPS in such a timely manner.  I trust you both had a relaxing week off and are ready to get back into the thick of it.”  
  
 _So far, so good._   They were both relaxed and attentive.  James looked quietly pleased.  
  
“I’m aware undercover jobs are inherently stressful,” she continued, “regardless of how long they take, and that personal… dynamics can become distorted.”  
  
 _Shit._   She saw the faint crease form on James’s brow as he straightened in his chair, indicating he was on alert.  Lewis’s shoulders had stiffened somewhat, and he was now sitting slightly forward.  The distance between their arms had increased, as both men had tucked their elbows in when they moved in their seats.  
  
“I’ve read your reports, and there’s one small matter I’m hoping you can clear up for me.”  She had their full attention.  “Is there perhaps something you need to tell me?”  
  
“Ma’am?” they chorused.  
  
“About your... relationship.”  Lewis looked puzzled, and James’s mask slipped slightly, his eyes darting toward Lewis.  
  
“No, ma’am,” Lewis said finally.  James echoed his response.  
  
Innocent debated with herself.  Under normal circumstances she’d accept their word without question.  However, what she’d read in the file and what she’d been shown that morning didn’t match up, and she needed an explanation for what she’d seen.  
  
“Then could you explain this for me, please,” she asked gently.  
  
She turned her monitor so they could see it, and double clicked on a thumbnail image.  
  
Lewis gasped and looked as though someone had dyed his face with beetroot juice.  James swore softly.  
  
It was a still frame from a high quality CCTV recording, showing Lewis and James tucked in a booth, in a secluded corner of the nightclub of the hotel where they’d been staying.  They were sitting with an arm around each other, pressed together more closely than Innocent had ever witnessed.  That in itself wasn’t the cause of her concern.  Lewis and James had been acting as civil partners in an ultimately successful scheme to draw out a group involved in an adoption scam.  It was the not so small details which had raised questions in her mind.  They were kissing, deeply and passionately.  Lewis’s other hand held the back of James’s neck, and James’s shirt was unbuttoned and pushed away to reveal his collar bone and the top of his chest.  James’s hand was inside Lewis’s shirt, the garment mostly unbuttoned and half untucked.  It was obvious this wasn’t a casual kiss, or a brief one.  
  
James had dropped forward, his elbows digging into his knees, most of his face covered by his hands.  He stared at Innocent wide-eyed.  Lewis was the first to find his voice.   
  
“Where’d that come from?“  
  
“I would have thought it was obvious, Lewis.  Gurdip brought it to my attention during his review of the hotel’s CCTV.  He’s the only other person who’s aware who you are who’s seen it… if that’s any... reassurance.”  
  
She folded her arms and leant forward on the desk.  
  
“Lewis, you and James were chosen for this particular assignment because of your easy manner with each other – and your inability to retain any personal space while at the same time unconsciously excluding almost everyone else.  As the psychologist pointed out at your briefing, that dynamic would have been the hardest aspect for any pairing to fake.  I’d been told you were very convincing, and now I see why.  There was also some considerable surprise expressed at how swiftly you and James were able to gain the attention and trust of Brown.  So, I’ll ask you again: is there something you need to tell me?”  
  
“It’s really not how it looks, ma’am.  Our brief indicated that all the other couples targeted were... physically demonstrative.”  Lewis laid a hand on James’s shoulder and gently squeezed.  
  
James drew his hands down his face and sat tall, his earlier embarrassment apparently having subsided.  
  
“I am aware of that, Lewis.  I’m also aware that the examples cited included holding hands, sitting on laps, arms around waists, small kisses.  There was nothing about semi-naked, public snogging.”  
  
“Ma’am, please, I can explain.”  
  
She nodded tersely for him to continue.  
  
“We… connected with Brown and his partner, O’Neill, almost immediately on the first night, but something was off.  We should have been their ideal client but they were distant.  We felt we’d missed something.  James went back through the online files and I spoke to DI Laxton to see if she could shed any light.  She suggested we...  be more intimate in public.”  
  
“So, this…”  She tapped the monitor.  “…was all an act?”  
  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
  
“And you don’t think it was a little... excessive?”  
  
“We achieved the desired result, so I’d say the end justified the means, ma’am.”  
  
She studied them for a long time.  Neither fidgeted nor looked away.  Their initial shock upon seeing themselves had rapidly dissipated, suggesting they had nothing to hide.  She had to believe them.  She also knew she couldn’t judge them if they did – or had – for whatever reason, become involved with each other.  As long as they were discreet, and kept up their exemplary clearance rate, she wasn’t going to interfere.  She bit back a smile when she realised she was, in fact, _disappointed_ they’d been able to provide a reasonable explanation for what had taken place.  
  
She released a sigh.  
  
“I can understand why you chose to omit certain ‘details’ from the official records.  Given this evidence, however, I’d like your report revised to include what you’ve told me.  A brief outline of the course of events and a note about Laxton’s informed advice is all that’s required.  You and James should be protected if anything does come to light at some point in the future.”  
  
“I understand your concern, ma’am, but isn’t there a risk the contents of the report could…?”  
  
“Possibly, Lewis, but I’d prefer to defend an official record of events as opposed to leaked CCTV footage.”  
  
“Yes, ma’am.  I’ll get onto it immediately.”  
  
  
******  
  
  
They kept any discussion of the meeting until they were behind the closed door of Lewis’s flat.  There were too many ears at the station, and too many who would happily take a portion of a conversation out of context.  
  
James stood to the side of the doorway as Lewis closed and locked the door.  “I can’t believe you lied barefaced to Innocent.”  
  
“It wasn’t a complete lie.  She asked if there was anything we _needed_ to tell her.  I didn’t see that there was a need.”  
  
“If she finds out…”  
  
“I was being kind, James.  Do you want to be the one to tell her first instinct was right?”  
  
James gave a breathy laugh.  “Not really.”  
  
Lewis pulled James to him and began to lick and suck his way from below James’s ear and down his neck, skilfully unfastening James’s shirt at the same time.  “You told me the CCTV didn’t cover that corner of the club.”  
  
“Sorry.”  James gasped and clutched at Lewis’s shirt as Lewis’s mouth reached the hollow at the base of his throat.  Warm hands took hold of the bared skin at his waist.  “I either miscalculated or missed a camera.”  
  
Lewis straightened and teased James’s lips with his tongue.  “Here’s hoping that’s the only one you missed.”


End file.
